Has anybody "run" with Mitchell's CRM ? They use a company called "Sure Critic", but I can't find any independent reviews for Sure Critic anywhere online. I've unfortunately enrolled in this method of web reviews for my shop, only to find out that they use my customer's phone numbers to do their reviews - something I would have never approve of, had I known. So far, my shop's reviews have been great, but it still bothers me to no end that I've compromised my customer's confidence, as well as their personal phone numbers. I'm "pulling up stakes" imediately.

They track by phone # as well and it was explained to me that it was the only true way to do it. There may be 10 John Smiths that have been through my shop (obviously and exaggeration) and the phone # is the only true way to track them. You can't go by name so phone # is used. I ask my customers if they want mailings and only a small % decline. Some because it's another piece of junk mail and a few because of other reasons but i really can't remember any because of phone number. I have a written guarantee that my list will not be sold or used in any other marketing venture but then again how can i really be 100% sure.

In all reality even un listed phone numbers are called by marketers through the process of blind number calling so it's not like the location of the Bat Cave has been compromised. The C.R.M. company probably had 10's of thousands of names and the phone # is the only thing that's indigenous to a particular person. If i ask a customer and they don't want mailings i enter their phone # in the memo area. Simple solution to a problem.

never argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

Please rest assured that we know and trust Sure Critic. I've sent this to the product manager to comment on this thread. He is travelling right now so please allow us a little time to get back to this.

To opt-out of phone reviews you simply let your personal CRM support agent know via email or phone call and they will turn it off for you. Collecting Reviews via the phone is an optional service for collecting your customers feedback in cases where the customer does not have an email address. Phone reviews provide the additional benefit of accelerating the volume of consumer reviews posted to your SureCritic review site and therefore provide your business with better visibility on search engines such as Google. All other things being equal, having more reviews than your competitors will cause your business to be presented when someone searches for automotive repair in your area.

Quite some time ago, I called my CRM agent and found that indeed I could stop the phone call method of soliciting reviews, which I did. My concern now, is, that I've already compromised my customer's privacy to a company (Surecritic) whose reputation I can find NO reviews for on the internet, anywhere. Not only do they make it nearly impossible to contact them for such information, but their lack of an expedient response is one that leads me to believe they're not paying attention to the details of their own business. I posted on their Facebook page, but it took them several weeks to respond, saying it was an old account that they didn't monitor closely. (It was the only Surecritic account I could find on Facebook)

You say, "All things being equal"... By that, do you you mean, if one comes to the conclusion that they don't care about their customer's privacy, then it's okay to allow the customer's information to be harvested for their own shop's benefit? If so, I'd just as soon rely on our old method of advertising - word of mouth. Unfortunately, I'm now locked into a 1 year contract that I'm not happy with. The 30-day offer to back out was cool, initially, but hardly enough time for a busy shop owner to get a grasp or feel for how it all works and the implications thereof. I'd just as soon spend the money on candy at the front counter, personalized key chains and pens.

If someone could come up with a program that would track referrals, I don't think I'd mind paying for that.

Now if I could only know for sure that my customer's privacy hasn't been compomised in any way, I could sleep better.

Hi Jon - Thanks for voicing your concern about the security of your customer's data - since I'm sure there are also other shop owners that likely have the same questions. The data we extract as part of the CRM program is only used to provide the CRM service and to report back to you how the program is working. Our trusted partner SureCritic has the same policy. We or our partners do not use that data for any other purpose.

Since SureCritic does not market their Review product directly to aftermarket shops, Mitchell 1 is your contact for them. That allows them to do what they do best - which is to maximize the Review feedback from your customers in order to generate more Internet visibility for your business.

We are continually adding features to the product so your referral tracking feature will be considered. I encourage you to take full advantage of the program by allowing your support agent to send special email campaigns on your behalf. As an example of adding new features, we just added the ability to do state inspections email blast campaigns for no additional cost.